


What Did You Mean?

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s04e11 Holy Night, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-01-10
Updated: 2003-01-10
Packaged: 2019-05-15 19:49:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14796827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Josh/Donna follow-up to "Holy Night"





	1. What Did You Mean?

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**What Did You Mean?**

**by:** Evelyn 

**Category/Pairing:** Josh/Donna  
**Written:** December 2002  
**Rating: YTEEN**  
**Disclaimers:** Everything belongs to Mr. Sorkin.  
**Author's Note:** Like everyone else, I was delighted and enormously grateful to Aaron Sorkin for his gifts of Arctic Radar and Holy Night. At last!! We are on our way...we just need to get rid of Jack, which shouldn't be too hard to do. He's a smart guy...he'll get the message pretty fast (especially since he has only one more episode). I thought this might be one way it could happen. Enjoy!!

Special thanks to Shelley for her fabulous editing, as usual, and to Rhonda for encouraging me to write a post-ep. Also many thanks to Shelley, kt, Norma, Annie, Tammy, Lesley, and Amy for offering the constant reassurance that Josh and Donna would be together soon and for teaching us all to look beyond the obvious. Not a bad lesson for life - thanks!

It was 10:30 on a Tuesday night but the Hawk and Dove was packed. He caught a glimpse of Scott at the bar, and wended his way through the crowd. Army Major Scott Jackson was already well into his second beer when Lt. Commander Jack Reese joined him and nodded to the bartender to bring him one.

"I believe the next three beers are on you," he laughed. "The final score, one more time, please?"

"51 to 6," Scott muttered.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I heard you above the noise. Navy beat Army by how many points?" he grinned.

"51 to 6," Scott agreed with a rueful smile, taking a long swig, and signaling for another. 

"I'm surprised you could join me."

"I'm on eight to four this week, but I usually stay later." Jack then asked gently, "Have you gotten orders yet?"

"No. We don't know if we'll stay stateside or be sent over...kind of depends on your work," Scott said with a grin. "So...How's the posting at the White House?"

The bartender brought over fresh mugs of suds and the two friends clinked glasses.

"The pace is incredible. First night I almost got laughed out of the place when I asked for three hours to prepare a report and was told I had 20 minutes," Jack shook his head ruefully. "I've gotten faster but this is more intense than anything I've ever encountered. It's like being in battle, constantly looking over your shoulder, but in this case, I'm trying to second-guess what will happen next in the world," he paused and took another sip of his beer, then looked up at his companion, "But when you walk into the Oval Office and the Commander-in-Chief asks your opinion..."

"Wow," Scott said softly. The two men were quiet for a moment, and then with a sly look on his face, Scott noted, "but I hear there's more than just military analysis going on in the West Wing." 

Jack laughed. "Who'd you hear that from?"

"Mac Stanton told me about your new girlfriend. From what I hear she's tall, leggy, blonde..."

"And the smartest woman I've ever met," Jack laughed. "She can kick my butt in military trivia."

"Mac just howled and told me to ask you how you met her."

"She talked me into swapping votes with her."

"What???"

"She voted for Ritchie by mistake. She's from Wisconsin and the absentee ballot was a crappy design. She voted for Ritchie when, of course, she meant to vote for Bartlet so she stood outside the polling headquarters trying to get someone to agree to vote for Bartlet in exchange..."

"And you did?" Scott asked incredulously. "How'd you know she'd actually voted for Ritchie? Maybe she was just trying to get you..."

"It was a matter of honor," Jack answered seriously. "Ok, it was crazy," he agreed.

"But she's hot?" Scott laughed.

"Definitely," then added, "and smart and funny."

"Mac also said that you pulled in every favor you've ever had at the Pentagon getting a room at the Washington Inn for Christmas," Scott smirked.

"Battle plans, my friend. You've got to approach these missions with a well-thought out strategy," Jack chuckled. "I tutored Admiral Fell's son in calculus during my last posting at the Pentagon. The kid got an A on the final and I just happened to remember that Frank Morris, who's attached to Fell's staff, has a sister who owns a romantic inn about two hours outside of DC..." Jack shrugged his shoulders.

"And your grand strategy almost got wiped out by a blizzard," Scott poked his buddy in the chest.

"She was late coming down but she got there - by helicopter no less," Jack laughed and took another slug of his beer.

Swallowing the last gulp from his mug, Scott announced, "I'll be back in a sec," and headed off in the direction of the men's room. Jack leaned back against the bar and glanced around the room. He almost missed them. They were in a small booth in the back of the room, and he caught a glimpse of a familiar red sweater and long blonde hair. He moved slightly down the bar and then he could see her reaching for a french fry and laughing as her companion batted her hand away. Jack picked up his mug and headed into the room.


	2. What Did You Mean? 2

**What Did You Mean?**

**by:** Evelyn 

**Category/Pairing:** Josh/Donna  
**Written:** December 2002  
**Rating: YTEEN**  
**Disclaimers:** Everything belongs to Mr. Sorkin.  
**Author's Note:** Like everyone else, I was delighted and enormously grateful to Aaron Sorkin for his gifts of Arctic Radar and Holy Night. At last!! We are on our way...we just need to get rid of Jack, which shouldn't be too hard to do. He's a smart guy...he'll get the message pretty fast (especially since he has only one more episode). I thought this might be one way it could happen. Enjoy!!

Special thanks to Shelley for her fabulous editing, as usual, and to Rhonda for encouraging me to write a post-ep. Also many thanks to Shelley, kt, Norma, Annie, Tammy, Lesley, and Amy for offering the constant reassurance that Josh and Donna would be together soon and for teaching us all to look beyond the obvious. Not a bad lesson for life - thanks!

"God, Josh, didn't your mother teach you to share?"

"Didn't yours teach you to ask?"

"And if I had asked would you have shared?"

"No," he laughed, and then pushed his plate of fries back into the middle of the table. "But keep the ketchup on your plate please," he said, as she neatly tapped a blob of the red condiment onto the side of the dish.

"You don't like ketchup?" she teased.

"Donna," the Deputy Chief of Staff whined, snatching a handful of fries and moving them to the ketchup-free zone on his own plate.

"Donna," the Lieutenant Commander said softly.

"Jack," Donna looked up in surprise. "What are you doing here?" she blurted out.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. I thought you had to work late tonight," and the cool tone in his voice was clearly evident.

"I did...but...but Leo cancelled the late meeting at the last minute, so we decided to get a bite to eat," she explained, in a rush. "Sit down,"and she scooted over. The booth was small, so he perched on the edge of the bench, put his beer down on the table, snaked an arm around Donna's shoulders, and gave her a smile.

"Josh," he nodded in greeting, wiping the grin off his face.

"Jack," was the stiff reply.

"We've finished our burgers...but do you want some fries?" she asked nervously, pushing the plate towards the Navy officer.

"No thanks. I've eaten. I'm here with an old friend," Jack pointed in the direction of the bar. "When you said you had to work late *again* tonight..."

"I did... we did," Donna said quickly. "Like I said, we just got here about forty-five minutes ago and were just finishing dinner. I....I missed lunch," she added.

"Can't give your staff time for lunch, Josh?" the Lieutenant Commander raised an eyebrow and looked directly at the Deputy Chief of Staff.

"We're just so busy," Donna answered quickly. Josh just stared at the military attache. "You know with the Inauguration and the new Congress..." she trailed off.

"Do you have to go back to the office now?" Jack asked.

"Yes," Josh said immediately,

"What?" and Donna looked at him in obvious surprise.

"Maybe Donna didn't realize she was going to have to go back to the office," Jack said quietly.

Josh and Jack exchanged glances.

"I'll take Donna home and then go back and finish up the thing," Josh offered.

"That's ok, I'll take her home," Jack said firmly.

"Josh if you need me..." Donna interrupted.

Jack stared cooly at Josh. "No, that's alright," the DCOS conceded. "I can handle it. Just come in early tomorrow," he added.

"But what about your friend?" Donna asked as Jack stood and she slid out of the booth.

Jack looked over to the bar and caught a glimpse of Scott talking to a cute redhead from The Travel Office.

"Looks like he found himself some companionship," Jack smiled. "Wait here and I'll just go tell him I'm leaving," and he headed back to the bar.

Josh helped Donna on with her coat.

"Thanks for dinner," she smiled, then added awkwardly, "You sure you don't need me to..."

Josh shook his head, as Jack came up and took Donna's hand.

"I'll see you tomorrow...early," Donna said. "If you have any trouble with...with the thing, you can call."

"Thanks. Night Donna...Jack," he added while the two men again exchanged wordless stares.

Jack tugged on her Donna's hand and they headed out into the night.

Josh sat back down at the table, watched until he could no longer see the blonde hair of his assistant, and slowly picked up his beer.


	3. What Did You Mean? 3

**What Did You Mean?**

**by:** Evelyn 

**Category/Pairing:** Josh/Donna  
**Written:** December 2002  
**Rating: YTEEN**  
**Disclaimers:** Everything belongs to Mr. Sorkin.  
**Author's Note:** Like everyone else, I was delighted and enormously grateful to Aaron Sorkin for his gifts of Arctic Radar and Holy Night. At last!! We are on our way...we just need to get rid of Jack, which shouldn't be too hard to do. He's a smart guy...he'll get the message pretty fast (especially since he has only one more episode). I thought this might be one way it could happen. Enjoy!!

Special thanks to Shelley for her fabulous editing, as usual, and to Rhonda for encouraging me to write a post-ep. Also many thanks to Shelley, kt, Norma, Annie, Tammy, Lesley, and Amy for offering the constant reassurance that Josh and Donna would be together soon and for teaching us all to look beyond the obvious. Not a bad lesson for life - thanks!

Donna shivered in the cold January air as she and Jack walked silently to his car, the streets surprisingly empty in a town that goes 24/7. It was clear out and the night sky was dotted with twinkling lights. But the pavement was slightly icy and she started to slip. Jack steadied her, grabbing her at the waist and holding her in a firm grip.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"My pleasure." He leaned in for a kiss, which was cut short when Donna jumped, startled by the shrieking sirens of a police car, lights flashing, racing up the street towards an unknown emergency.

"To be continued," he grinned and opened the passenger door to his dark green Explorer. Donna slid in.

Once he got in the driver's side, Jack turned and with a smile asked, "Where to?"

After a moment of silence, Donna murmured, "I've got to go home, Jack. You heard Josh, I've got to be at work early."

Jack sighed, looked straight ahead, and then said softly, "Sure." He turned the key in the ignition and slowly pulled out into traffic. They drove for several minutes without talking. Finally, he said casually, "You've had to work late almost every night since we got back from the Washington Inn."

"I work the same hours Josh does," Donna explained. "I told you that when we first started going out. There are weeks I don't see daylight, and with the new Congress beginning..."

"Yes, you definitely told me all about Josh's demanding schedule," Jack answered flatly. "Do you think you'll have a little more free time after the Inauguration?"

"I'm...I'm not sure," she said tentatively. "We're trying to push through a lot of legislation as early in the term as we can."

"So you were talking about work at dinner?" he asked casually.

"We actually try to avoid politics when we're having dinner."

"So what do you talk about?" he pressed, pulling into a parking space in front of Donna's building. He turned off the ignition, and swiveled in his seat to face her.

She looked confused, then started tentatively, "Well once we got through the sorry state of the pitching prospects for the Mets," she smiled, then continued, "we talked about Lord of the Rings."

Jack crinkled his forehead in question, "The movie?"

"Well actually the books, but we were arguing about Grima Wormtongue and Josh was trying to convince me that..." she paused when she saw the confused look on Jack's face. "He's a villain who betrays King Theoden," she added, then stopped. "It doesn't matter. He was wrong anyway," she smiled then continued, "Once we see the second part of the trilogy, he'll see I'm right."

"You made plans to go to the movies with Josh?" 

Donna looked down at her hands, unconsciously twisting them, while she talked. "Not until after the Inauguration. It's just that we watched the video together last summer so we thought...."

"Donna," Jack said quietly, brushing his hand across her cheek. "I like you... alot. I want to spend time with you, but I get the feeling..."

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I don't think this is gonna work. I'm so busy that I really don't have time for a relationship right now."

"Not this one, anyway," he said calmly.

She looked up quickly. "What do you mean?"

"You're in love with your boss, Donna, and here's a news flash, he's in love with you."

She laughed and said quickly. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm not in love with Josh. He's my boss...no, that's not exactly right, I mean it is, but...but he's also my friend. But that's all he is...just a friend."

He looked at her without saying a word, so Donna began to chatter on in explanation, "We've known each other for five years. We date other people. Josh was in a relationship up until last May...and I've been seeing you for six weeks now. I'll admit we're close...very close even...and it might look a little unusual to other people, but he doesn't see me that way...never has."

At last she stopped, looking embarrassed and flushed. Jack leaned back against the car door and stared, then finally spoke quietly, "Now you know why I was going to vote for Ritchie."

She looked at him blankly.

"You two are the most clueless people I've ever met and you're running the country."

"Hey!" she said indignantly, swatting his arm, and he softened his face with a smile.

"You spend more time with him than my mother does with my father and they've been married 40 years," Jack argued.

"It's our jobs," she protested, "You spend lots of time with your assistant, Harold."

"Donna, I had known Josh for a cumulative total of seven minutes, and in that period he talked more about you than I've ever talked, or even thought, about Harold in my entire life," Jack explained quietly. 

"Maybe Harold doesn't lead quite as crazy a life," Donna interjected with a small smile.

"That's what he likes about you," Jack offered, and Donna looked at him in surprise.

They sat in silence for a few moments, then she leaned forward and kissed Jack on the cheek. "Thank you for being so understanding. I think you're wrong about Josh..."

She opened the door and stepped out, then leaned back in and added with a smile, "But thanks for swapping votes with me, Lieutenant Commander. I'll see you around the West Wing?"

"Anytime you're in the neighborhood of the Steampipe Distribution Center," he said with a matching grin.

She started to close the door when he added, "Donna, you don't need to be a military analyst to read these signs. Think about what I said and don't waste any more time."

She paused thoughtfully, then said, "Night Jack."

"Night Donnatella."


	4. What Did You Mean? 4

**What Did You Mean?**

**by:** Evelyn 

**Category/Pairing:** Josh/Donna  
**Written:** December 2002  
**Rating: YTEEN**  
**Disclaimers:** Everything belongs to Mr. Sorkin.  
**Author's Note:** Like everyone else, I was delighted and enormously grateful to Aaron Sorkin for his gifts of Arctic Radar and Holy Night. At last!! We are on our way...we just need to get rid of Jack, which shouldn't be too hard to do. He's a smart guy...he'll get the message pretty fast (especially since he has only one more episode). I thought this might be one way it could happen. Enjoy!!

Special thanks to Shelley for her fabulous editing, as usual, and to Rhonda for encouraging me to write a post-ep. Also many thanks to Shelley, kt, Norma, Annie, Tammy, Lesley, and Amy for offering the constant reassurance that Josh and Donna would be together soon and for teaching us all to look beyond the obvious. Not a bad lesson for life - thanks!

He reached for the phone...again. It was 7:15 and he'd started to call her twice...actually three times if you count the night before. But he'd stopped himself each time. What was he going to say if she answered?

"I hate to interrupt your wild and raucous sex, but I wanted to remind you that you have to be at work early tomorrow...to work on the thing." He shook his head in disgust. Even he knew that he hadn't sold that last part to Jack last night. "What thing?"

Of course, there was always work to be done, and by keeping Donna at the office every night since January 2, they'd actually accomplished a lot. They'd also eaten dinner together almost every night, except for those two times when he'd agreed that she could meet Jack for a quick bite, but had insisted that she had to be back within an hour to work on "the thing".

He reached for the phone again when he heard, "Good morning."

He looked up and saw her standing in the doorway of his office, sipping a cup of coffee. She looked, as she always did, beautiful...and he was relieved to see, rested.

"Did you finish what you needed last night?" she asked with a small smile.

He absent-mindedly pushed papers around his desk and nodded. "Sure...well actually I decided to call it a night. I couldn't get much done without those numbers." There was no harm in bringing just a little guilt to the mix.

"What numbers?" she asked.

"The newest infant mortality rates from Britain, France, Italy, and China," he said quickly.

"I told you yesterday that the Population Council isn't releasing those numbers until late this afternoon."

"Right, right..I guess we'll just have to work late tonight then," he proposed, looking up shyly from his desk, surprised by her amused look, then plowed on, "I'll...I'll explain to Jack that we'll probably have to work late every night for the next few weeks. I'm sorry, but you know, with the new term and all."

"No, I understand. Really I do. I'll handle it," she answered confidently. 

Looking at her watch, she added, "You've got senior staff in fifteen minutes, but I ran into Toby on the way in and he wanted to see you for a sec before..."

"Ok...I guess I'll be going," and he picked up two of the folders on his desk.

"You gonna head right out to the Hill after?" she wondered.

"Yeah, so I guess I'll take my coat and the stuff on gun control with me," picking up his backpack and stuffing in the material he would need for his meeting with the Majority Leader. "I...I should be back by noon...um..."

She looked expectantly.

"Maybe I'll grab us some sandwiches on the way back and we can go over what needs to be done with the Infant Mortality package once we plug in the new numbers. Tuna on rye, extra pickles, and pink grapefruit juice?"

She looked surprised. "Okay."

"I don't want you to miss lunch again," he added softly.

She smiled and passed him his coat as he walked out the door.

It wasn't until late that evening, sitting in his office, white cartons of Chinese carryout littering the desk, that she had a chance to really look at him. He was gesturing wildly with his hands, trying to persuade her that Tolkein was primarily making a point about the coming of the mechanical age and all its evils, when she interrupted.

"Jack didn't know who Theoden was."

He stopped in mid-sentence and stared.

"So I couldn't convince him about the role of Wormtongue," she said quietly. 

He looked confused. 

"He doesn't like the Mets. He's a Braves fan."

He scowled, then added with a tentative smile, "Well that's just wrong."

"That's what I said. I tried to explain about the problems with the pitching staff last year and how the trades have made all the difference, but he isn't willing to give them a chance..."

"You just can't convince some people. You shouldn't even try. They get stubborn and set in their ways. You have to be open to new ideas, not be afraid of change," he pointed out.

After a few moments, Donna said softly. "He had some other interesting theories."

"About the Mets?" he asked hesitantly.

"No," and she held his gaze until he looked down, finding a single grain of rice that had fallen on his desk absolutely fascinating, shifting in his seat uncomfortably.

"He thinks we spend too much time together, but I explained that we had a lot of work to do."

"That's right," he mumbled. "Important work."

"That's what I said when I told him that I couldn't date him anymore."

He looked up quickly, smiled, and then wiped the silly grin off his face when he found her still staring at him intently.

"Jack didn't believe that was the reason I didn't want to date him anymore."

"He didn't?" and was disappointed that it came out as a squeak.

"No, he had a theory about you and me. I told him it was ridiculous, of course."

"You did?" he answered softly.

"But he said that you and he had already talked about this."

He became fascinated again with the grain of rice, refusing to meet her eyes, which he felt boring into his soul. He sighed, and finally whispered, "We might have talked a little. He's...he's a pretty smart guy, even if he doesn't like the Mets." He looked up and this time held her gaze as they stared at each other in silence.

"He mentioned something about you and his aide Harold that sounded intriguing," she finally said, now a small smile flickering at the edges of her mouth. 

"He did?" and still couldn't quite lose the high pitch.

"Something about you and Harold going on a double-date with me and Jack?" She was smiling now, her eyes glinting with laughter. "I mean, I don't have a date for the Inaugural Ball, but if you've already promised Harold..." 

"I...I think he might have misunderstood," Josh said, then grinned back.

"So if I asked, you might escort me to the Inaugural Ball?" she asked, matching the silly, ear-to-ear smile that was pasted on his face.

"I hate to disappoint Harold, but I think he'll understand."

They enjoyed the silence between them, the words unspoken.

"So...do we have to wait until after the Inauguration to see the second part of Lord of the Rings or maybe we could take a break from work?" she grinned. "I want to prove to you that I'm right about Theoden."

He glanced down at his watch, then swept the empty cartons into the trashcan. "Nah, the thing can wait until morning. Let's catch the late show."

"Buy me popcorn?"

"Anything you want Donnatella. Anything you want."


End file.
